Jeffrey Overstreet departed the Patheos network in order to escape click-bait advertisements that were offending him and his readers. He will re-launch Looking Closer at lookingcloser.org soon. He is the author of The Auralia Thread, a four-volume fantasy series that begins with Auralia's Colors, and a memoir of "dangerous moviegoing" called Through a Screen Darkly. He teaches creative writing and film studies; speaks internationally about art and faith; served as Writer-in-Residence at Covenant College; and is employed by Seattle Pacific University as a project manager, copyeditor, and writer.

Claire

Gaith,

I was merely referring to Pullmans insistence that he doesn’t write with an agenda for or against any particular point of view. By “given himself permission” I meant that he seems to have abandoned that stance :)

Wyldeirishman

Gaith,

I’m not saying any such thing, as the level of his (or anyone’s) intelligence has little to do with it. Don’t read what I didn’t write. :)

Gaith

Claire, are you suggesting that he needs permission? Do you contest, then, that freedom of speech is the birthright of us all, per the Universal Declaration of Human Rights?

And, Wyldeirishman… this new book is a novel, not a nonfiction treatise. But are you seriously contending that those with doubts about the historical veracity of the Bible are stupid? Because that category includes some of history’s (and today’s) sharpest minds. Just sayin’.

Claire

I guess he’s finally given himself permission to criticise/make fun of Christianity. Not bothering to disguise it much, is he?

Gaith

As a huge Pullman/Dark Materials fan, I’ve gotta say… that I don’t really have any interest in reading this. The premise is pretty lame, and there’s no Lyra.

Wyldeirishman

It’s always more than a bit sad when a chap that’s as gifted with the worded way as Pullman goes out of their way to be nothing short of an obnoxious fool. Perhaps if he’d spend more time examining the verifiable arguments for Christian theism instead of continuing to build siege ramps against straw-man fortresses, the respect-factor might actually increase.